Groves City Council candidates unopposed; Jasper voters could have say in recall

By Elaine Wikstrom EWikstrom@BeaumontEnterprise.com (409) 838-2872

Published 7:55 am, Wednesday, August 31, 2011

With about a week remaining in the candidate filing period, the only people signed up to run on the November ballot for the Ward 1 and Ward 3 seats on the Groves City Council are their current occupants.

Ward 1's Dr. Joseph Arisco turned in his paperwork early in the period, which opened on Aug. 8. Ward 3's Sidney Badon Jr. also has filed to run again, City Clerk Kim Butler confirmed Tuesday.

Anyone who wants to challenge either of the two men must enter the races by 5 p.m. Sept. 7, which is the Wednesday after the Monday Labor Day holiday. Butler will be available to take filings from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the other business days.

Jefferson County

Voters in west part of the county will get to decide whether to create Emergency Services District No. 3. The crux of the issue there seems to be whether residents are willing to pay taxes to support what proponents say would be better fire protection for the area west of Beaumont. It now is covered by the Nome and China volunteer fire departments, which rely to a great extent on fundraisers for support, according to earlier Beaumont Enterprise accounts.

Hubert Oxford IV, the local attorney who is representing those who want to form the district, said that by law, the most that the district property tax can be is 10 cents per $100 of home or land valuation.

For other Jefferson County residents, the only items on the November ballot will be the 10 proposed Texas constitutional amendments.

Jasper

In Jasper, however, it looks as though voters will be asked to cast ballots in a city council recall election involving District 3's Tommy Adams, District 4's Willie Lee Land and District 5's Terrya Norsworthy. The Ninth Court of Appeals ordered the election recently after the city council took no action on petitions asking for it, according to Beaumont Enterprise stories.

The city has not yet responded to the court's demand.

Jasper has been in a growing political uproar since a new police chief, Rodney Pearson, was appointed in April. Acting on Pearson's behalf are Beaumont attorneys Cade and David Bernsen, while Beaumont attorney Mike Getz has been representing The League of Concerned Citizens for Jasper, Texas. The league is backing the recall election.